Cannes line-up features talent from Flanders

The Official Selection of the 67th Cannes Film Festival has been announced, with Flemish actor Sam Louwyck starring alongside Monica Bellucci in Alice Rohrwacher’s Le meraviglie. The Dardenne brothers also return to Cannes with Two Days, One Night, co-produced by Peter Bouckaert of Eyeworks. Finally, making his directorial debut, Ryan Gosling is to present Lost River on which Nico Leunen worked as an editor.

A dancer as well as an actor, Louwyck first attracted attention with his role in Tom Barman’s 2003 hit Any Way The Wind Blows and was subsequently seen in Caroline Strubbe’s Cannes-selected Lost Persons Area; Koen Mortier’s 22nd of May; the Oscar-nominated Bullhead, directed by Michaël R. Roskam; and The Fifth Season, directed by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth. Louwyck also often appears in short films by promising new directors, such as Felix van Groeningen’s 50cc; Roskam’s Carlo; Paroles, directed by Gilles Coulier; and, more recently, Deben Van Dam’s much-acclaimed The Way of All Flesh.

Rohrwacher’s Le meraviglie is set against the backdrop of the Umbrian countryside, where 14-year-old Gelsomina lives with her sweetly dysfunctional family. Her safe environment is disrupted by the arrival of Martin, a German criminal on a rehab programme.

Also selected for the Official Competition is Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s Two Days, One Night. Though still very a social drama, the film sees top French actress Marion Cotillard (Blood Ties, Rust & Bone) taking the lead as Sandra, a young woman desperate to find a way to convince her co-workers to refuse their bonuses in order for her to keep her job. The cast also includes Olivier Gourmet (Tenderness, The World Belongs To Us), Cathérine Salée (La vie d’Adèle, Mobile Home), Fabrizio Rongione (Le silence de Lorna) and Christelle Cornil (Illégal, My Queen Karo).

Two Days, One Night is a film from the Dardenne’s production company Les Films du Fleuve, with Peter Bouckaert of Eyeworks (Cordon, The Treatment, Marina) co-producing for Flanders.

Cannes also welcomes Ryan Gosling as a director in the Un Certain Regard section. The actor will present his debut feature Lost River (formerly known as How To Catch A Monster) for which Nico Leunen is credited as editor. Leunen is one of Flanders’s foremost editors, with credits including The Broken Circle Breakdown, Kid, Altiplano and The Misfortunates, among others. Gosling also wrote the screenplay for Lost River which focuses on a single mother whose teenage son discovers a road that will lead them to a mysterious underwater city. Christina Hendricks (Mad Men, Drive), Eva Mendes (The Place Beyond The Pines, Last Night), Saoirse Ronan (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Atonement) and Matt Smith (Doctor Who) form the main cast. Photography is by Belgian DOP Benoît Debie (The Runaways, Spring Breakers).